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TOP STORY OF THE DAY - Is there a castle in Brazil?
Is there a castle in Brazil? Yes, Virginia, there is a castle in Brazil.
The castle is located at 1240 West Hendrix St. at the corner of Water Works Road. You have to slow down to see it behind a house.
It was built sometime between 1904 and 1910 by a family that owned a brick company.
“My understanding is that it was a way to advertise the family brick business,” said Michael Beachkofsky.
His father David Beachkofsky, Frank Stray and Dick Harrison were partners in House and Company.
They purchased the property April 22, 1967 from the Cutshall family, after the death of Rudolph Cutshall. Cutshall owned the property from 1949 until his death.
House and Company was a real estate company that would purchase homes and then rent them. House and Company owned the property until May, 2014 when it was sold to Sonia Rahman.
Beachkofsky lived in the house in front of the castle from 1971 until 1978.
“When we moved into 1240 W Hendrix St, there were two houses, the barn and another white house in the field,” explained Beachkofsky. The white house was later torn down and is now part of the pasture.
The castle was used as a barn for the horses. The hay for the horses was stored on the second floor. The turret of the building is three stories with a hatch to be able to go out on the roof. In the turret on the first floor there was office space.
Beachkofsky provided The Times with the original Abstract of Title.
The first recorded owner was Peter J. Sarchet. The date on the record is October 17, 1839. There were several owners through the 1800’s.
Beachkofsky had been told by Ada and Clifford Downing the larger house on the property was built in the 1880’s and the smaller house in the 1890’s. During the time of those dates the property was owned by Thomas Campbell, who purchased the property on February 4, 1882.
The castle and the property hold many wonderful memories for Beachkofsky. His father had D&D Metals while they lived at the house.
“I can remember my dad’s customers coming out there and I ran to see them. We played a lot of hide and seek out there,” said Beachkofsky.
His connection to the house and castle was revisited years later.
“After college, I rented the house for a time,” Beachkofsky explained.
Ethan Wilson bought the property in July 2022. His father, Larry Wilson, owned it before him. Wilson admits he didn’t realize how people in the area felt about the castle but learned “pretty quickly .”
The problem with owning a castle? “It’s really not practical for many things,” said Wilson.
“I’m a mechanic by trade so I was just going to tear it down and build a newer shop,” noted Wilson.
After hearing from several people about memories they have about the castle, he changed his mind.
“But I very quickly realized this town holds it so close, so it’s going to stick around and I’m going to see how I can get it fixed up,” said Wilson.